Gambling Your Future?

Several years ago, Illinois permitted the first riverboat casino to open, allowing people to bet their financial future on a roll of the dice.  Since the first casino opened, others followed.  People flocked to the riverboat casinos for an opportunity to win a fortune.  Let's face it, it is a good time.  Food, drinks, colored lights, noises; literally something for all the senses.

Gambling has a darker side, however.  First, many, many, people spend money they do not have for a chance to win money, often leaving pennyless.  Frequently, the very people seen in a casino cannot afford to be there, spending a very limited income on an unlikely dream.  These particular people become a greater burden on the state, aka, the taxpayer.  These people turn to the federal government for help with mortgages they cannot pay.  These people compromise the welfare of their children and the sanctity of their homes.  These people are not the people we hear about on the 9PM news.  We hear and see the people with large amounts of disposable income, who are willing and can afford to throw it away, pun intended.

Another dark side of the gambling boat phenomena is the conflict between unhealthy desires and religion.  Simply put, it is sinful to gamble, yet many "Christians" spend millions of dollars being hipicrats to their faith and their God.  DOn't get me wrong, many people gamble - a friendly bet on a game, or who will win on American Idol, lottery tickets, or the best one, playing Bingo in a church.  I have even gambled from time to time in a nickel/dime game of cards.  For the most part, I hope and believe that I, and people like me, will be forgiven for our "human frailties".  If a person spends a life savings or the grocery budget, gambling on a boat; I am not as confident.  It is their choice and I will not judge.

Now, the state of ILlinois is asking to expand gambling around the state.  They want to add poker machines in public places, additional gambling boats and other opportunities for lives to be destroyed.  The state looks at this as an opportunity to make fast money to cover budget shortfalls.  In other words, the state is doing the same thing as the millions of tax payers - betting on a get-rich-quick scheme.  The only problem is, while it is a gamble for the taxpayer to jump on a boat; the risk to the state is not quite as high.  The state will make money.

Logic tells us, if the state can make money off of people willing to spend their money, why not let them?  Here is why.  The more money the state makes, the more they spend.  In all liklihood, some of the millions the state is making off of gamblers, is returned to the gamblers in the form of financial aid, food stamps, etc.  To test the validity of the claim, consider that the more gambling opportunities we have added in the state, the higher the deficit has become.  Is there a way to validate this theory?  Possibly.  But it is not necessary because whatever cause and effect their may be, the reality is that the state is going broke despite the ridiculously high property, sales, tobacco, income and many other taxes we are paying.

The solution to our financial problems is not to go to the people for more money, beit in the form of involutary taxation or voluntary spending on gambling, the solution is to reduce spending!  WHen we run out of money in our household budget, responsible people do not go to their neighbor and order them to give them money.  Responsible people stop spending.  We criticize people for burying themselves in credit card and other debt, yet the state is the best example of fiscal irresponsiblity. 

As taxpayers, we must force our state government to turn off the faucet and stop spending.  We must tell them that sponsoring and spreading dangerous vices throughout the state is not an acceptable way to solve our financial problems.  We must insist that our government practice the morals they claim to have when they run for the office they now hold.  We must make this happen and the best place to send the message is in the voting booth.  We already know that the current group of politicians setting up to run for office are just more of the same people, from the same club, that will do the same thing.  The time could not be better to fill the governor's mansion that Abraham Lincoln once slept in, with a governor that stands for common sense conservatism.  The Illinois Whig party, the original party of Abraham Lincoln, will bring fiscal responsiblity back to government.  If  you are tired of the same corrupt, political non-sense, join the Illinois Whig party now and start to make a difference. 

SIgn up at Illinoiswhig.org or Modernwhig.org